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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/25099201">The Visitor</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/neon/pseuds/neon'>neon</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Florist &amp; Merc AU [6]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Compilation of Final Fantasy VII, Final Fantasy VII Remake (Video Game 2020)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M, Gen</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-07-06</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-07-06</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-04 06:14:11</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>3,324</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/25099201</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/neon/pseuds/neon</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Aerith is a florist. Cloud is a mercenary. (AU)</p><p>
  <em>Once she'd found the right man in town to speak with, Aerith made her job posting - a job for one specific mercenary, first name Cloud, last name Strife. No details. Just directions to the property in case Cloud forgot. He was a little… dead, the last time.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Several days elapsed before the flowers murmured, passed along from the fields to the daffodils in a vase on the kitchen table, that someone had stepped onto the property.</em>
</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Aerith Gainsborough/Cloud Strife</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Florist &amp; Merc AU [6]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1798867</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>19</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>62</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>The Visitor</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>A note:<br/>No "Established Relationship" tag because in this part Aerith and Cloud are not together yet. "The Visitor" takes place shortly after the first half of <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/24928258">"A Beginning and an End"</a>. If you don't want to read "A Beginning and an End" first, just know that it describes how Aerith and Cloud met in this AU - when Cloud fucked up one of his first mercenary jobs and almost died on the side of the road before Aerith found and healed him with magic. :)<br/>Also in "The Visitor", there's mention of Alder from the previous story, "Routine". He's an OC, an old dude who gives out monster hunting jobs.</p><p>The context for this AU is:<br/>- Aerith was an orphan. Cloud was a SOLDIER.<br/>- Aerith is now a florist, and Cloud is now a mercenary.<br/>- Most main events in canon never happened, or never involved Cloud or Aerith.<br/>- Aerith is still a Cetra, but no one ever discovers that exact fact, including her.<br/>- Cloud and Aerith live in the same house as Aerith's in FF7R, but it's not in Sector 5.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Once she'd found the right man in town to speak with, Aerith made her job posting - a job for one specific mercenary, first name Cloud, last name Strife. No details. Just directions to the property in case Cloud forgot. He was a little… dead, the last time.</p><p></p><div>
  <p>Several days elapsed before the flowers murmured, passed along from the fields to the daffodils in a vase on the kitchen table, that someone had stepped onto the property.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Oh? We have a visitor?" Aerith lowered her mug of tea and asked, "Any idea who?"</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Maybe someone was planning a wedding and needed flowers. Or maybe the doctor was sending along another request for medicinal herbs. Aerith raised her cup of tea again while waiting for the flowers to talk with one another.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>In time, they responded, <em>Lonely warrior</em>.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Aerith gasped and stood, causing her tea to splash with the bottom of the mug being knocked so hard onto the table.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Aerith, shaded under the porch, waited. The distant rumble traveled its way over the hill before the bike did. Cloud slowed in front of Aerith, dragging heel of his boot helping him to a halt.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>He grabbed the edges of his goggles to take them off. His eyes were as breathtaking as Aerith remembered. Glowing brightly, a little more blue today with the brilliant sky behind him than reactive green (Alder had given Aerith an idea of why that mix was so when she'd mentioned Cloud’s name in her job posting). His spiky hair was extremely spiky after being windblown. He still wore that crazy hunk of metal for a pauldron on his left shoulder, and that humongous sword on his back. And, that frown on his face. It was Cloud, all right.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Cloud swung off the bike, knocked down the kickstand, and stood by the bottom of the porch. Aerith smiled at him.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Hey, again!"</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Hey."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>She pouted at such a lackadaisical response. Cloud was being his more prickly self again - his shoulders slightly hunched, his eyes drifting down and sidelong instead of making contact with hers.</p>
</div><div>
  <p><em>Hmm.</em> Aerith clasped her hands behind her, rocking on her feet, before skipping down to ground level with him. "Nice ride," she tried, bending to look the bike over.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>He looked back at it (a light-framed, olive-colored dirt bike) too. "Not really." He placed his hands on his hips in what seemed to be a habitual posture for him while Aerith straightened and shrugged, not really knowing much about bikes anyway. He tensed again shortly, and dropped a hand in his surprise, when he must have realized his guard had fallen after she’d come near.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Better than traveling all this way by foot! You found the place okay."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Yeah. Your posting still sucked."</p>
</div><div>
  <p><em>Wow</em>, Aerith mouthed, mock scandalized. "Is that how you talk to a client?" Cloud huffed, turning his face to profile. "You’re never gonna hang onto mercenary work with that kind of attitude, you know."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>He mumbled, rudely, "And what do <em>you</em> know about being a mercenary?"</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Well…" Aerith tapped her chin, making a show of thinking about it. "I know only the very <em>best</em> can tackle this job."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>The shadowed, tired skin under his lower lids tightened. "And just what <em>is</em> 'this job'?"</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Follow me. C’mon."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Aerith turned and started walking, not waiting. She heard the crunch of Cloud's boots treading after her soon.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>She showed him out back, a corner of the yard against the cliffs hidden by a nest of tangled vines, long grass fallen on itself, and even more troublesome:</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Weeds."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Cloud raised an eyebrow, as if to say, <em>Yeah, and?</em> Then he realized.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"<em>This</em> is the job?" At Aerith’s enthusiastic nod he only grew more skeptical. Probably of her sanity. "You serious?"</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Oh, deadly serious. These are probably the toughest enemies you’ll ever face. Just look at all the destruction they’ve caused!"</p>
</div><div>
  <p>He did look. He sighed, rubbing his forehead with one of his gloved hands.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"…Am I actually gonna get paid for something like this?"</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"That would only be fair. Don’t worry, I have gil." At his disbelieving scoff, <em>Hey, I </em>do <em>have it!</em></p>
</div><div>
  <p>Aerith put forth her hand. "So, do we have a deal?"</p>
</div><div>
  <p>She kept her hand there even as he leaned instinctually back. Then, he sighed. He answered, "Fine." Smart instincts, Aerith thought, to know she wasn’t an opponent he could win this time against. Maybe the weeds weren’t the toughest enemy he’d face after all.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>When Cloud finally took Aerith's hand, she felt the warmth of him through the soft-worn leather across his palm. But Aerith was surprised by how light his hold was. She’d expected a much harder one. He was being careful of his own strength.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>But also giving himself away. It seemed a lot like kindness for such a tough customer.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Aerith squeezed back, pumping their hands together once to make the deal official.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Great! But first, I hope you like tea."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>After making sure Cloud was hydrated, and after convincing him to lean his giant now unnecessary sword against the wall of the house, Aerith gave him some spare gardening gloves and her instructions and let him have at it. She fanned out the ends of her dress over the grass to settle behind him, keeping a couple of yards away to give him some space.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>He was making quick work of it, actually, several piles of pulled grass and loose branches forming in no time. No time at all, Aerith thought, a little disappointed. Why did he have to be so efficient? She lifted her own spirits by taking in the view. His blond spikes golden in the sun, his shoulder blades shifting under his shirt, his exposed arms glistening with beads of sweat. Might as well appreciate it while she had it.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>He looked up when he heard a whistle, from the blade of grass Aerith held between her thumbs and blew on. She pulled her lips back to ask, "Getting tired?" He had turned his damp forehead against the crook of his arm raised.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>He shook his head and picked up another bunch of branches near where he’d been working to toss on top of what he’d made his main pile. The manual labor actually looked like it was relaxing him. An air of tranquility had started floating sometime around his movements. Aerith half-expected a butterfly to pick a moment soon to alight on his shoulder.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Are you gonna survey the whole time?" Cloud asked.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Gotta make sure I get my money’s worth! Or do I get a discount for helping you?"</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Ha. Not a chance."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"So stringent. Well, guess I’ll just have to keep sitting here."</p>
  <p>She cupped her hands differently to change the pitch of her grassy whistle.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Whatever," Cloud said, without heat. "Have it your way."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Instead of returning to more weed-picking and vine-wrangling though, he shadowed his eyes under his hand to better see the house beyond Aerith, gazing up to its roof with the beautiful triangular windows and their eaves. Aerith placed the piece of grass on her lap to let him have this moment.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"It’s a… nice place, you got. Didn’t think flowers paid so well."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Hmm? Thinking of changing professions?"</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Maybe," Cloud joked. "Like you said… I’m not too sure I’m cut out for being a mercenary."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Aw, Cloud, I didn’t mean it. Don’t be so down on yourself, you’re doing a great job so far today!"</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"This isn’t mercenary work, no matter how many times you try and call it that."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"I guess you’re right. If you did decide to change professions, it seems like you’ve found a new calling."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Aerith looked at Cloud instead of facing the house. He had turned away from the house as well, expression half-hidden as he was looking up at the lit red cliffside, then off to the shadowed hills. It was getting cooler out. Aerith pulled her knees up and grabbed her elbows wrapped around them.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"There weren’t any flowers here before I showed up, but the house was always nice. It used to belong to a caretaker at the orphanage where I grew up." Aerith noticed in her periphery Cloud turn slightly toward her.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Aerith went on. "She never lived here. She’d just been hanging onto it. And then, out of the blue, I found out she left it to me when she passed." Aerith had suspected it was out of pity for her, the girl who had never found a home. "Kinda unbelievable, right?"</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Cloud stared. Aerith tipped her head. "What’s wrong?" He became self-aware again, and shook his. He looked back up from under his lashes.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"…Sorry," he said. For which part, Aerith wasn’t exactly sure. She’d kind of told him a lot. At least, more than she’d told most people. She’d always been a chatterbox, but she rarely said anything about herself. She wondered why she’d picked Cloud.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"It’s okay," said Aerith. "That was all a long time ago."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Still," said Cloud.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Aerith smiled. "Thanks, Cloud."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Except she knew. Cloud hadn’t doubted her, after all, when she’d told him she could hear the flowers. Although, he had been dying at the time. That had to be why she’d posted the job. She had to know for sure, if their chance encounter was actually just a one-time fluke.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Aerith stood.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"It’s getting pretty late." The garden lamps had started to flicker on to light the paths. Cloud blinked around him. <em>Oh.</em> "I can offer food and board, if you can pay me back by doing a couple more things tomorrow. Just here and there."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"The hell? Then <em>I</em> owe <em>you</em>?" Cloud grumbled. But there was a moment where he looked… lost. Like <em>he</em> understood he didn’t belong in this place, and was wondering why Aerith was inviting him to stay. That was just what Aerith thought, anyway. She hadn’t forgotten the daffodils' description of him, and Aerith herself was an authority on the first part.</p>
  <p>"Okay," he said, in a voice barely too small.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>After eating (side by side on the porch with plates on their laps, Aerith afraid the formality even of such a simple kitchen table would spoil Cloud's delicate, tranquil mood), after cajoling stories forth about him into the night (one of which being that before hunting monsters he grew up in a far-off mountain village Aerith had never heard of, where his mom still lived, though he hadn’t been back to visit for a long time for what reason he thought he kept secret but what Aerith guessed as having something to do with him being a deserter), Aerith set Cloud up in the spare guest room.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>The light from the hall cut across him on top of the bedcovers, trying to get comfortable on his back with his hands folded on his stomach.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Good night," said Aerith.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>He looked over at her, then back up at the ceiling. Blinking a couple of times, before closing his eyes and repeating, "Good night."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>He probably wasn’t used to being in a stranger’s place, surrounded by stranger’s things - if he thought Aerith was still a stranger. Cloud had been there before when he’d needed the change of clothes and to wash off all that blood. Still, it was different, for him to stay overnight.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Aerith shut the guest room door, yet remained outside it. Aerith thought the atmosphere, even if it was weird, was nice. Knowing that there was another person, and that person was Cloud Strife, present in the house besides her, was nice. It was an awfully big dwelling for only one person. Could get lonely.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Aerith woke from hearing Cloud up and about first the next morning. Floors creaking despite what she suspected were his best efforts. Tap barely splashing in the bathroom sink. Front door clicking open and shut.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Aerith stayed in bed, keeping her eyes closed and smiling to herself as she listened to his noises drift away. If this was all a dream in the end, Aerith wouldn’t mind. Really. It had been a good one.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>But she never heard the motorcycle start up. Cloud was walking on the garden paths out front when Aerith rose and stepped onto the third-story balcony, and spotted him.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>When he felt her eyes on him, which was almost right away, she waved. Calling as he walked his way back, "You get a good night’s sleep?"</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Yeah… actually." Maybe he wasn’t used to that.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"You hungry?" His answer was the same. Aerith came down the stairs, almost running into Cloud as he opened the front door and she rounded the last step. "Oops! Sorry!"</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Uh. No big deal."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Huh?" She looked back at him to see why he sounded funny. His glance flickered from her to the window, while he crossed his arms. She looked down at herself, at the wrap dress she'd grabbed and tied on. It did sort of… cling.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"’S nothing," he said, toeing one of the floorboards.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Him acting flustered was making her feel flustered! Aerith hurried behind the counter that divided the main kitchen from the dining table, regaining herself, and telling Cloud, "Take a load off, 'kay? Breakfast will be ready in a sec."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>She set a pan down and started up the burner, and reached in the fridge for eggs, ignoring Cloud’s eyes if she felt them on her. She did glance up at the sound of glass scraping across wood. Cloud had pulled the vase in the center of the table closer to the edge where he sat, rotating it to idly look at the daffodils.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Aerith let him eat before giving him his first set of tasks (fixing a wobbly wheelbarrow, then using it to bring soil over to a new garden plot). Then she did have her own work to do, collecting flowers for a special order. She rejoined him midday where he was shaking out another load of dirt.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"This enough?" he asked her.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Oh, that’s plenty." He set the wheels down. Aerith remarked, "Easier work than lugging around that sword?"</p>
</div><div>
  <p>He looked surprised. "Huh? Oh." <em>My sword.</em> His eyes found the house where the sword had leaned since yesterday. "I s’pose." Aerith could see his bike still parked out front, too. A reminder that they did have their own lives they needed to get back to.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Well, mister merc," Aerith sighed, "That’s all I've got. Your work here is done."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>She smiled past it, but he frowned.</p>
  <p>"That it?"</p>
</div><div>
  <p>She held up her finger. "Well, <em>one</em> more thing."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>She led Cloud back to the first spot he’d worked on, that corner he’d cleared out by the cliffs. She knelt near the ground, cupping her hands around her mouth and whispering.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Okay, guys. Plenty of room now."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Uh… Aerith?" Her braid whipped around when she turned and shot him a look. He sighed, and instead knelt beside her, looking at her and then the ground before her.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>The flowers started pushing through the earth. Climbing to their tallest height, their petals then unfurled before their eyes. Dozens of blue delphiniums had reclaimed the patch in a matter of seconds.</p>
</div><div>
  <p><em>Whoa</em>, said Cloud softly.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Aerith grinned. He’d become still, almost unnaturally, next to her, after drawing in one long breath to smell the sudden perfume from the blooms. She bumped her shoulder against his to knock him out of it.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"That have anything to do with your healing power?" he wondered.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Aerith shrugged. "Dunno. Probably."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Y’know." Cloud hesitated. He started again, "Some people in town, they call you-"</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Been asking about me, have you?" He looked away because she’d nailed him. She eased up, encouraging him again, "Come on. What do they call me?"</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"…They call you a witch."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"'Witch'?" Aerith pouted. "That’s just rude."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Some people call you a miracle worker, too." There were others, besides Cloud, Aerith had helped before. Aerith’s powers weren’t a secret, really. She just didn’t flaunt them, that was all.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Hmm. Well," she said, "I prefer Aerith. Or local florist." She picked one of the flowers and held it close to her chest. "I just do what I do. Hopefully it brings someone a little happiness. But there’s nothing really that special about me."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Cloud’s brow furrowed and he frowned. Aerith could tell he was taken aback. She was ready to lie, <em>Fooled ya,</em> but he spoke first.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"…That’s not true."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"I’m just me. Honest."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"I-" Cloud was silent while he worked something out. "I mean, yeah. But that’s… you’re still-"</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Oh, hang on!"</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Aerith bent her ear toward the ground, listening, and nodding. Cloud shut his mouth, and only opened it again to sigh instead of finish his thought. Aerith sat up straight again and looked at him.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"They say, 'Thanks!'"</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"The… flowers? To who - me?"</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Of course you."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Cloud looked at the new blooms, and Aerith watched, close-mouthed, speechless. Because he nodded to them, and said back, "Uh. You’re welcome."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>He was taking it so seriously. Aerith smiled, instead of giving in and crying.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>He noticed, blushing. Or maybe his face was just heated pink from the sun. "Uh. Forget it. Never mind…"</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"No, Cloud. I think they really like hearing your voice." He rubbed the back of his neck, frowning again. Sending Aerith another look that she just smiled sweetly at.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>He walked his bike down the road, and Aerith walked beside him. His sword was strapped again on his back. A bouquet of flowers was covered and tied securely to it with twine.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>His payment. Aerith had had to bring it up, shockingly. At the mention of getting paid Cloud had said with surprise, <em>Oh, right,</em> as though he’d forgotten this was a job. He'd seemed to have forgotten himself a lot, in the past two days.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Aerith had added the flower she’d picked to her special bouquet order, and then handed it off to Cloud.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>He’d said, "Knew it."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Hey now, listen," Aerith had said back. She gave him a name and an address, and told Cloud, "Keep the gil I would’ve been paid. Flowers <em>are</em> actually worth quite a bit." Cloud took her word, and accepted the bouquet.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>They walked, slowly. At some unspoken point, they stopped together.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Each said, <em>Well, goodbye. </em>Cloud straddled his bike, touching his goggles around his neck. Aerith bit the corner of her lip.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Very soon she would have to walk back down the road, by herself, and return home, alone. She’d given up on having family, even any real friends, a long time ago. Except for Cloud. He’d come back. And he had enjoyed the past two days as much as her, hadn’t he? Aerith wished this, whatever this was, could last forever, even though the two of them had barely met.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Maybe she would try one more time instead of giving up, like she always did. One last try, since it was Cloud.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Hey…" she said, at the same time Cloud turned and said the same.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>They looked surprised at each other. Aerith smiled graciously, saying, "You first."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>He swayed on his bike seat, dropped his fingers from his goggles. For him, fidgeted. He said, "Okay…"</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Cloud took a breath and, meeting Aerith’s eyes, he asked, "Can I see you again?"</p>
</div><div>
  <p>The answer was absolutely - the answer was <em>absolutely </em>absolutely. But Aerith still teased him then, even with the great amount of happiness he’d brought her.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Do I have to pay you to come see me again?"</p>
</div><div>
  <p>His eyes grew wide, before he ducked his head, smiling small. He knocked his chin back up in her direction. "Nah. Free of charge."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Then sure you can." Sincerely, Aerith said, "I’d like that, Cloud. I really would."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>She waved at the other end of the road, calling, <em>See you soon, Cloud!</em> Cloud raised his hand back in a tiny wave before dropping it to the throttle. Making an explosive, joyful sound with the revving of the engine as he took off, knowing, as certainly as Aerith, that he would return.</p>
</div>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>@highfivestrife (nsfw) if you want to witness my obsession with FF7R</p><p>P.S. This will probably be the last part I write of this AU for a while (because I was on a week's vacation when I started, but now I'm back at work)! I just wanna thank everyone who has left kudos, commented, and just enjoyed these stories. Writing this AU was so fun for me, and sharing them with you was so pleasing.</p></blockquote></div></div>
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